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2017-09-24 17:10:28

TWX

Time Warner

$102.40

-0.09 (-0.09%)

, CMCSA

Comcast

$38.10

0.63 (1.68%)

…17:10

09/24/17

09/24

17:10

09/24/17

17:10

Box Office Battle: 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' easily wins weekend

"Kingsman: The Golden Circle" easily won the weekend in North America, grossing $39M from 4,003 theaters. While the sequel scored one of the best openings for the month of September, it came in somewhat behind expectations. Overseas, Kingsman 2 kicked off with $61M, for a global tally of $100M. The movie was distributed by 20th Century Fox (FOXA) and received a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. BOX OFFICE RUNNERS-UP: New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. (TWX) horror movie "It" followed at number 2, with the movie's domestic cume standing at $266.3M. Behind it was Warner Bros.' animated family offering "The Lego Ninjago Movie," which launched to a meek $21.2M from 4,047 locations domestically. Lionsgate's (LGF.A) "American Assassin" followed at number four, with an estimated $6.2M in its second weekend for a domestic total of $26.2M. Rounding out the top five, the romantic comedy distributed by Open Road films "Home Again" earned an estimated $3.3M. Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include Viacom (VIAB; VIA), Sony (SNE), Comcast (CMCSA), and Walt Disney (DIS).

Credit Suisse analyst Omar Sheikh downgraded Time Warner (TWX) saying he expects the acquisition by AT&T (T) to be approved shortly and believes objections from Brazilian regulators likely to be surmountable.

Jefferies analyst John Janedis downgraded Time Warner (TWX) to Hold saying the AT&T (T) takeover appears on track to close in Q4. The analyst keeps a $105 price target for the shares.

CMCSAComcast

$38.10

0.63 (1.68%)

09/12/17

09/12/17UPGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Comerica (CMA) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray with analyst Brett Rabatin saying the bank's mid-quarter update is better than expected. 2. Alcoa (AA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank with analyst Jorge Beristain basing the upgrade on the firm's commodity team raising its 2018 aluminum price forecast by 12% to $2,072 per ton. 3. Kroger (KR) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Pivotal Research with analyst Ajay Jain saying continued weakness in investor sentiment following Kroger's latest results presents a near-term buying opportunity. 4. Comcast (CMCSA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at MoffettNathanson with analyst Craig Moffett saying Comcast shares cheap following management comments on third quarter subscriber loses and the resulting stock selloff is overdone. 5. Inovalon (INOV) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley with analyst Ricky Goldwasser saying that the company's presentation at the firm's healthcare conference provided a line of sight to organic earnings acceleration in the second half of the year. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

09/11/17

TDSI

09/11/17NO CHANGETarget $51TDSIBuy

Comcast shares oversold, says TD Securities

TD Securities analyst Vince Valentini believes the market has "materially" overreacted to management comments that it expects Comcast to lose 100k to 150k residential video subscribers in Q3. Valentini said the market-cap erosion since the comments on Wednesday has been approximately $14B, implying each video subscriber value is over $90k, which is extreme. The analyst believes this makes no sense and views the weakness in Comcast shares as "oversold" and reiterates his Buy rating and $51 price target.

09/12/17

MOFT

09/12/17UPGRADEMOFTBuy

Comcast upgraded to Buy from Neutral at MoffettNathanson

09/12/17

09/12/17UPGRADEBuy

Comcast upgraded to Buy on valuation at MoffettNathanson

As previously reported, MoffettNathanson upgraded Comcast to Buy from Neutral with a $45 price target. Analyst Craig Moffett said Comcast shares cheap following management comments on Q3 subscriber loses and the resulting stock selloff is overdone.

CMCSKComcast

04/24/17

OPCO

04/24/17NO CHANGEOPCO

Sprint, DISH the only assets for sale, says Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan noted that wireless companies will be allowed to discuss M&A, and says he sees Sprint (S) and possibly DISH (DISH) as the only assets for sale. The analyst believes the most likely outcome is for consolidation around the four major wireless providers, something along the lines of Charter (CHTR)/Sprint, T-Mobile (TMUS)/Comcast (CMCSA; CMCSK), Verizon (VZ)/DISH, with AT&T's (T) position "fairly solidified" with DirectTV/Time Warner (TWX). Further, Horan suspects Sprint will be sold first, most likely to Charter, although T-Mobile is a possibility and could be the controlling company/management and likely paying a premium for Sprint.

04/20/17

BTIG

04/20/17NO CHANGEBTIG

Comcast should try 'hail mary' Charter acquisition, says BTIG

BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield makes the case that Comcast's (CMCSA) "window for M&A is simply to enticing too ignore" and lays out six potential targets that would "truly be transformative," with his top pick among the group being Charter (CHTR). A combination of Charter with Comcast would have "all of the benefits of the legacy Time Warner Cable deal with even more scale" and even though odds of approval are no better than 50/50, it is worth throwing that "hail-mary," Greenfield tells investors. The other five possible deals that Greenfield makes the case for are Disney (DIS), Verizon (VZ), Netflix (NFLX), T-Mobile (TMUS) and Snap Inc.'s (SNAP) Snapchat.

Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan says that while he does see a merger with Charter (CHTR) and especially with Comcast (CMCSA) working financially, he believes Verizon (VZ) has its sights set on becoming a platform for digital content/apps monetized with programmatic advertising. This, combined with using wireless technologies to replace wireline broadband, could be "very disruptive to the cable industry," he adds. The analyst sees further acquisitions of content/application companies as more likely for Verizon.

04/26/17

FBCO

04/26/17NO CHANGETarget $37FBCOOutperform

Hulu stake could be for sale this year, says Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse analyst Omar Sheikh notes that Comcast (CMCSA; CMCSK) will be free to sell its 30% stake in Hulu from the end of 2017. The analyst believes there is a $100B domestic revenue opportunity for targeted TV advertising long-term, which vertically integrated networks/distributors will be in a strong position to exploit. Therefore, Sheikh argues that it would make sense for 21st Century Fox (FOX; FOXA) to acquire Comcast's stake in Hulu, if it becomes available, subject to valuation and appropriate programming supply agreements. He reiterates an Outperform rating and $37 price target on 21st Century Fox's shares.

SNESony

$37.50

0.04 (0.11%)

09/19/17

09/19/17DOWNGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst downgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst downgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Under Armour (UA, UAA) downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo with Wells Fargo with analyst Tom Nikic saying with consumers having filled their closets with athletic wear over the past seven years, the category "appears poised to take a breather for now." The analyst cut his price target for the shares to $13 from $17. 2. Kellogg (K) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray with analyst Michael Lavery saying cereal could be at risk from shrinking center store space. 3. Nike (NKE) downgraded to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna saying that his checks indicate that the North American and European businesses are decelerating as some key categories, especially basketball, have underperformed, resulting in excess inventory that will pressure sales and margins. 4. Synchronoss (SNCR) downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Raymond James with analyst Tavis McCourt citing the news that Siris Capital is no longer interested in an all-cash transaction for all the outstanding shares of the company and has withdrawn its $18 per share bid from June 22. Further, the analyst believes it increasingly unlikely that the current strategic review will result in an acquisition at a premium and expects share to come under pressure and stay in the range prior to the Siris indication of interest. 5. Sony (SNE) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

09/11/17

SBSH

09/11/17DOWNGRADESBSHNeutral

Sony downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi

Citi analyst Kota Ezawa downgraded Sony to Neutral saying the shares, following the recent rally, are now around fair value. The analyst expects the company's earnings growth to slow.

09/11/17

09/11/17DOWNGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst downgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst downgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Snap (SNAP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank with analyst Lloyd Walmsley saying the risk/reward is more balanced with the shares up 29% since August 11. 2. Owens Corning (OC) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Nomura Instinet with analyst Michael Wood saying high expectations create a balanced risk/reward at current share levels. 3. Kroger (KR) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank with analyst Shane Higgins saying the company's sales and earnings growth for the next few years are likely to be below historical averages as it enters a period of increased investment, which warrants a lower multiple. 4. Sony (SNE) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi with analyst Kota Ezawa saying the shares, following the recent rally, are now around fair value. The analyst expects the company's earnings growth to slow. 5. Newell Brands (NWL) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies with analyst Kevin Grundy citing management's "recent cautionary commentary" on its outlook for the second half of 2018. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

09/19/17

FBCO

09/19/17DOWNGRADEFBCONeutral

Sony downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse

FOX21st Century Fox

$26.43

0.1 (0.38%)

08/08/17

BNCH

08/08/17NO CHANGEBNCHBuy

Fox-ION 'rumors' most likely a negotiating tactic, says Benchmark

Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos highlighted a "slew" of "inconsistencies" that make him skeptical of last week's "unsubstantiated rumor published by Bloomberg" regarding Fox (FOXA) potentially forming a JV with ION and pulling all of its affiliate agreements from Sinclair (SBGI), concluding in a note to investors that this was "just another negotiating tactic by the network." Fox's "cozy" agreements with Tribune (TRCO) may get disrupted by Sinclair's acquisition, added Kurnos, who has a Buy rating on Sinclair shares.

07/25/17

OTRG

07/25/17DOWNGRADEOTRGMixed

21st Century Fox downgraded to Mixed from Positive at OTR Global

OTR Global downgraded 21st Century Fox to Mixed from Positive

08/01/17

FBCO

08/01/17NO CHANGETarget $37FBCOOutperform

21st Century Fox, Sky deal to take longer to clear, says Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse analyst Omar Sheikh continues to believe the Sky (SKYAY) transaction will eventually receive full regulatory approval, but highlights there is an elevated risk to the deal if it is referred to the CMA, and at best an extended period before it gets cleared. Meanwhile, he believes the 2018 21st Century Fox (FOXA) organic equity story looks compelling, and reiterates an Outperform rating and $37 price target on the shares.

FOXA21st Century Fox

$26.88

0.12 (0.45%)

08/11/17

PIPR

08/11/17INITIATIONTarget $35PIPROverweight

21st Century Fox initiated with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray analyst Stan Meyers started 21st Century Fox with an Overweight rating and $35 price target. Fox has some of the best mix of content and remains undervalued relative to peers, the analyst contends.

09/19/17

09/19/17NO CHANGE

Cowen lowers price targets on media companies

Cowen analyst Doug Crentz cut his price targets for several media companies, as he believes that the margin pressure on TV networks will continue. The analyst believes that consensus estimates for TV broadcasters are too high, as he expects that the decline in the sector's EBITDA margin will more than double this year, driven by lower ad and affiliate revenue. He believes that two "deep-pocketed, low margin competitors -Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) - are the root of the problem. He cut his price target on Viacom (VIAB) to $31 from $41, on Discovery (DISCA) to $19 from $25, on Fox (FOXA) to $29 from $32, on CBS (CBS) to $69 from $70 and on Disney (DIS) to $94 from $95.

09/05/17

WELS

09/05/17UPGRADETarget $116WELSOutperform

Disney upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker upgraded Disney (DIS) to Outperform and raised her price target for the shares to $116 from $109. The owner of ESPN and ABC closed Friday up 31c to $101.50. Concerns over potential dilution from the BAMTech stake and the streaming apps are "widely overdone," Ryvicker tells investors in a research note where she also downgraded Viacom (VIAB). She expects the TV ecosystem will soon undergo on an accelerated push into over-the-top. As such, investors may need to start increasing exposure to media companies with solid streaming strategies, such as CBS (CBS), 21st Century Fox (FOXA), and Disney, and lessen exposure to those that do not, such as Viacom and Scripps Networks (SNI)/Discovery Communications (DISCA), Ryvicker argues. The analyst likes the current entry point for Disney shares.

LGF.ALionsgate

$31.49

0.24 (0.77%)

09/15/17

FBNS

09/15/17INITIATIONTarget $37.71FBNSOutperform

Lionsgate initiated with an Outperform at FBN Securities

FBN Securities analyst Robert Routh started Lionsgate with an Outperform rating and $37.71 current fair value estimate, which represents upside of 26.8%. The company has proven it can adapt to an "ever-changing landscape" and recent deals, such as the acquisition of Starz, positions Lionsgate well for "predictable and sustainable" growth moving forward, the analyst contends.

08/30/17

08/30/17NO CHANGETarget $35Overweight

Lionsgate shares remain attractive, says Piper Jaffray

After analyzing the company's film studio, Piper Jaffray analyst Stan Meyers says shares of Lionsgate remain attractive for a "fast growing studio" with expanding margins and solid free cash flow generation. The analyst remains upbeat on the company as Starz transitions into a growth story and it continues to deliver high quality TV content while "systematically assembling a de-risked, diversified film slate." Meyers' base case scenario points to a $35 valuation, which is his price target, $26 in the bear case and $40 in the bull case. He keeps an Overweight rating on Lionsgate.

07/21/17

07/21/17NO CHANGE

Lionsgate price target raised to $36 from $29 at Loop Capital

Loop Capital analyst David Miller said that while Lionsgate shares have grinded higher as the company "continues to do what it has always done very well," he also has confidence that it is well ahead of plan on Starz synergies and that it has potential from "second-window" sales of streaming rights and orders from OTT platforms. Miller raised his price target on Lionsgate B shares to $36 from $29 and keeps a Buy rating on the name.

09/15/17

09/15/17INITIATION

On The Fly: Top five analyst initiations

Catch up on today's top five analyst initiations with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. DowDuPont (DWDP) initiated with an Overweight at JPMorgan. 2. Lionsgate (LGF.A) initiated with an Outperform at FBN Securities. 3. Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) initiated on huge potential at RBC Capital. 4. Verifone (PAY) initiated with a Neutral at Citi. 5. Oclaro (OCLR) initiated with a Strong Buy at Raymond James. This list is just a portion of The Fly's analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

DISDisney

$98.60

-0.29 (-0.29%)

09/05/17

WELS

09/05/17DOWNGRADETarget $32WELSMarket Perform

Viacom downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker downgraded Viacom (VIAB) to Market Perform and lowered her price target for the shares to $32 from $43. Investors may need to start increasing exposure to media companies with solid streaming strategies given the push into over-the-top, and Viacom does not have one, Ryvicker tells investors in a research note. The analyst does not see much visibility into a turnaround for Viacom's affiliate fee growth. Ryvicker this morning also upgraded Disney (DIS) to Outperform.

09/05/17

09/05/17UPGRADE

On The Fly: Top five analyst upgrades

Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Disney (DIS) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo with analyst Marci Ryvicker saying concerns over potential dilution from the BAMTech stake and the streaming apps are "widely overdone." 2. Patterson-UTI (PTEN) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan with analyst Sean Meakim saying the 26% selloff since July 19 has created a buying opportunity. 3. lululemon (LULU) upgraded to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna with analyst Sam Poser citing improved product mix, momentum carrying into the third quarter and inventory flow to stores that is finally supporting consumer engagement. 4. U.S. Steel (X) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill with analyst Timna Tanners saying the U.S. premium to Chinese prices has fallen to just about $75/ton, half the leves he considers "normal" and expects HRC can "surge toward $700/ton by year end. 5. Prologis (PLD) upgraded to Buy from Hold at SunTrust with analyst Ki Bin Kim citing valuation and several positive catalysts. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

09/19/17

WELS

09/19/17NO CHANGETarget $116WELSOutperform

Disney streaming could be worth $10-$30 per share, says Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker believes Disney is still "so misunderstood." The analyst argues that the Disney-based streaming could add an incremental $30/share in her highest conviction model and $10/share if she is being ultra-conservative. Ryvicker continues to believe Disney is the best long-term play in the space, and reiterates an Outperform rating and $116 price target on the shares.

VIABViacom

$27.64

0.24 (0.88%)

08/04/17

EVER

08/04/17NO CHANGETarget $48EVEROutperform

Evercore ISI would be a buyer of Viacom near-term weakness at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Jayant would use weakness in Viacom share related to disappointing guidance as a buying opportunity. The analyst believes the company is heading int the right direction under new CEO Bob Bakish, and said there are some early signs that his restructuring plan is working. Jayant rates Viacom an Outperform with a $48 price target.

VIAViacom

$38.00

-0.2 (-0.52%)

06/15/17

BERN

06/15/17NO CHANGEBERN

Viacom shares could tumble to $2.50, says Bernstein

Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger says that Viacom could drop to $2.50 per share if its current $3B EBITDA drops to $2B, and its EBITDA multiple drops to six times. The analyst says that this scenario is "not crazy," since the company's EBITDA fell 33% from fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2016 "during a rip-roaring advertising market and the early days of cord-cutting." He keeps a $29 price target and Underperform rating on the shares.

Loop Capital analyst David Miller believes Viacom's "Transformers" franchise is "somewhat long in the tooth" and he sees both the opening weekend and overall domestic grosses for the fifth installment, "The Last Knight" to be muted. He does note, though, that he expects international results to be "quite strong" for the film. Miller keeps a Hold rating on Viacom and lowered his price target to $37 from $39.

07/17/17

JPMS

07/17/17NO CHANGEJPMSOverweight

Viacom shares offer 'great value' at current levels, says JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Alexia Quadrani says Viacom over the past few months experienced improving ratings across several of its key networks, which she believes supports a positive outlook for advertising improvement. Shares of Viacom present "great value at these levels," Quadrani tells investors in a research note. She reiterates an Overweight rating on the stock.

Nuance has ceased development this month of the Swype feature for both iOS and Android, six years after it acquired the company behind the keyboard app for roughly $100M, the Verge reports, citing an emailed statement. Nuance said that it would discontinue support of the keyboard app and shift focus to other products, the report says. "The core technology behind Swype will continue to be utilized and improved upon across other Nuance offerings - and integrated into our broader AI-powered solutions - most notably in Android-based keyboard solutions for our automotive customers," the company said, according to the Verge. Reference Link

Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) and Qualcomm Technologies (QCOM) announced their intention to expand their decade-long foundry relationship into EUV lithography process technology, including the manufacture of future Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G mobile chipsets using Samsung's 7-nanometer LPP EUV process technology. Using 7LPP EUV process technology, Snapdragon 5G mobile chipsets will offer a smaller chip footprint, giving OEMs more usable space inside upcoming products to support larger batteries or slimmer designs. Process improvements, combined with a more advanced chip design, are expected to bring significant improvements in battery life. Last May, Samsung introduced 7LPP EUV, its first semiconductor process technology to use an EUV lithography solution. It is anticipated that EUV lithography deployment will break the barriers of Moore's law scaling, paving the way for single nanometer semiconductor technology generations. Compared to its 10nm FinFET predecessors, Samsung's 7LPP EUV technology not only greatly reduces the process complexity with less process steps and better yield, but also allows up to a 40% increase in area efficiency with 10% higher performance or up to 35% lower power consumption.

Baskin-Robbins, a Dunkin' Brands company, announced its continued expansion in the Toronto, Ontario market with the signing of four new store development agreements with three existing franchise groups. The first Baskin-Robbins shop under these new agreements is scheduled to open in 2019. Currently, there are more than 80 Baskin-Robbins locations throughout the greater Toronto area, and growing the brand there remains a top priority for Baskin-Robbins in 2018 and beyond.

Celanese Corporation will increase list and off-list selling prices for the following acetyl intermediates products: acetic acid, acetic anhydride, butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, and vinyl acetate monomer. The price increases will be effective immediately, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

Reports Q4 revenue $369.0M, consensus $340.56M. Q4 Adjusted EBITDA was $110.5M for the three months ended December 31, 2017, up 294% sequentially from $28.0M for the three months ended September 30, 2017 and up 691% from $14.0M for the three months ended December 31, 2016.

UP AFTER EARNINGS: Bandwidth (BAND), up 12%... Avis Budget (CAR), up 8.3%... Mindbody (MB), up 8%... SailPoint Technologies (SAIL), up 7.1%... Stamps.com (STMP), up 6.5%... Gulfport Energy (GPOR), up 5.8%... Synopsys (SNPS), up 4.4%... Parsley Energy (PE), up 3.5%... Pandora (P), up 2.5%. ALSO HIGHER: Mellanox Technologies (MLNX), up 10.4% after it updated its first quarter outlook and announced that CFO Jacob Shulman is stepping down. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Roku (ROKU), down 22%... Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI), down 12.5%... Stericycle (SRCL), down 9.2%... Castlight Health (CSLT), down 9.1%... Ultra Clean (UCTT), down 8.3%... Trinity Industries (TRN), down 5.6%... Sturm, Ruger (RGR), down 4.9%... CyrusOne (CONE), down 1.7%. ALSO LOWER: Advaxis (ADXS), down 13.2% after it announced a common stock offering... GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH), down 5.5% after it said that its Phase 2a study of GWP42006 did not meet its primary endpoint... OneMain Holdings (OMF), down 2% after it announced an offering of 4.18M shares of common stock for holders.